Westport cuts stipends from FY15 budget plan

WESTPORT — The Board of Selectmen has unanimously voted its approval of next year's town operating budget, a spending plan for Fiscal Year 2015 that will cut their own annual stipends as well as those of most other elected town officials.

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By JASON PROTAMI

southcoasttoday.com

By JASON PROTAMI

Posted Jan. 1, 2014 at 12:01 AM

By JASON PROTAMI
Posted Jan. 1, 2014 at 12:01 AM

» Social News

WESTPORT — The Board of Selectmen has unanimously voted its approval of next year's town operating budget, a spending plan for Fiscal Year 2015 that will cut their own annual stipends as well as those of most other elected town officials.

The 4-0 vote with Selectmen Steve Ouellette absent will send Business Manager Steve Lombard's proposed FY2015 budget to the Finance Committee for review. A finalized version of the FY2015 budget will then go before voters at the spring Annual Town Meeting.

The proposed budget would see individual stipends for Selectmen, Assessors, Registrars of Voters and Board of Health members cut to $100 per year.

Presently the five Board of Selectmen members receive $2,600 per month, according to Mr. Lombard. The other affected town boards include the three assessors, who collectively receive $1,300 per month; the three registrars, who get together get $2,810 per month; and the Board of Health, whose members receive $730 per month in stipends.

The Finance Committee, which all together earns $450 in salaries per year, will stay at the same pay level.

The selectmen's vote was unanimous, but opinions varied during discussion of the budget plans.

The cuts set a bad precedent, Selectmen Craig Dutra suggested, telling the other board members he's talked to selectmen in other towns who regret similar decisions because it's that much harder to get back to the old salary, even when better financial times returned.

In motioning a vote to accept the budget, Selectmen Richard Spirlett told fellow members, "I hate to see the end of stipends, but I would hate to see someone lose a job (even worse)."

For FY15 capital expenditures, Mr. Lombard has $1.19 million budgeted, with $629,000 going to the school department and $567,000 for the town side of the budget.

One big-ticket item, with an estimated cost of $235,000, is a new roof and exterior shingles for the Council on Aging building; others include $114,000 for new police cruisers and $80,000 for the Highway Department for a new plow truck.

School monies will go towards building maintenance. Though not the largest expense, a new septic system at the high school, at about $100,000, is one of the most pressing, Mr. Lombard told selectmen. Grant money might be available for that project, he added.

An upgrade to code for the high school's fire alarm system is also overdue, according to Mr. Lombard, who estimates the cost at $270,000. An additional $125,000 is earmarked for a lighting and sound system upgrades for the auditorium; repaving the parking lot of the Macomber School next year would cost $110,000.

The cost projections led to discussion about the town buildings, some of which are "in awful shape, especially the schools," Mr. Lombard noted.

"We need to take a look at our buildings, both town and school side," for capital planning purposes, agreed Chairman of Selectmen Antone Vieira Jr.